If you use Microsoft Office or would like experiment with it, you can download Office 2010 Beta for free.
http://us20.office2010beta.microsoft.com/default.aspx?culture=en-US (http://us20.office2010beta.microsoft.com/default.aspx?culture=en-US)

Steve

picframer

12-21-2009, 02:44 PM

My experience is if you download an upgrade Beta, say for example in my case I run 2009, then when the trial is up you are forced to buy it and can't go back to your old version unless you uninstall which is a real pain, I swear this is a forced sell marketing ploy by Microsoft.

SuperiorPower

12-21-2009, 05:42 PM

My experience is if you download an upgrade Beta, say for example in my case I run 2009, then when the trial is up you are forced to buy it and can't go back to your old version unless you uninstall which is a real pain, I swear this is a forced sell marketing ploy by Microsoft.

I agree. That is just one more reason I continue to use Open Office and/or AbiWord. They are free, NEVER any forced downloads/upgrades, etc. The downside is that it is not quite as user friendly as MS Word, etc. Especially if you are used to MS Office, it takes a bit to get used to Open Office but the price is right for me. Free!

Needless to say, I am a big fan of open source programs like Open Office, Firefox, etc. I try to help Microsoft's competition when I can. Did I mention that I don't exactly care for Microsoft?!

Steve

12-22-2009, 05:16 AM

Open Office (openoffice.org) is amazing!

It does everything I need and I don't feel like I am a hostage to Microsoft. When I first found it, I was just blown away!